


A Spark of Sunshine

by SatelliteFool



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen, Naruto, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: After III but before IV, Gen, Reincarnation, Shikako reborn into a different series, Transplanted from the Recursive Forum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 13:43:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16306259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SatelliteFool/pseuds/SatelliteFool
Summary: She's born on the day the Empire comes to power.Some might call that prescient.





	1. Chapter 1

-

-

-

Ezra and Umbra Bridger are twins born on Lothal – a quaint planet in the Outer Rim Territories – on the day the Galactic Empire came to power.

The planet, in a state of economic disrepair, enters into a formal relationship with the Empire, swayed by promises of prosperity and security.

There are no prizes for guessing how well _that_ goes.

The Empire imposes martial law, surprising everyone with the exception of few Jedi sympathisers and a four-year-old girl.

Said four-year-old is _not_ amused. At all

She is outright _incensed_ however, when her parents begin broadcasting a pirate radio signal, outright _contradicting_ Imperial propaganda. Yes, there are injustices and _yes_ something needs to be done, but this is going to get them _caught_ and _made an example_ of.

Problem is, nobody really takes those kinds of points seriously when an _infant_ is voicing them.

Mira and Ephraim smile and offer assurances. Pretty words like 'justice' and 'of course you're safe sweaty'.

Ezra eats it up. They've made a believer of him.

In the Republic.

In the _Jedi_.

Umbra hates them for that. Just a little bit. For not preparing him for the real world. For not teaching him that what _is_ and what _should be_ are two very different things. She promises herself that she'll look after him when the time comes. When it all comes to a head.

They're – _exactly_ – seven when it does, on their way back from the market when they find their home ransacked. Parents taken – probably dead or _worse._

Ezra's world crumbles as Umbra's comes into focus.

_No guarantees. Good guys don't always win. Justice doesn't always prevail. Have to play it smart, be pragmatic._

Old skills come rushing back, like riding the world's most menacing bike. Walking like you belong, pickpocketing, how to fight stronger and bigger opponents. No jutsu – _she's not, and never has been, that lucky_ – but every now and then, she feels stronger than she should – _stronger than any seven year old girl should_.

 _Something to watch out for_.

Ezra learns, but slowly. Not for lack of talent but, well…

There are some things she simply _can't_ teach him without raising uncomfortable questions of the ' _how exactly did you learn how to do that?'_ variety _._

They do well. Well enough to survive.

Well enough to draw attention.

A Xexto approaches Ezra when they're separated – he _thinks_.

_He wasn't a bad tail. Far from it. But…_

_Well._

Ezra takes the bait – _still too trusting –_ while Umbra tails them both to a pawn shop on the south side of the city.

_The owner, or are they casing it?_

Owner, as it turns out.

She bursts in before the trap has a chance to spring, only to find the man giving her brother tips on con-artistry.

_What._

The Xexto looks more amused than surprised.

Ezra is mortified in that way pre-pubescent boys tend to be when they realise a _girl_ thought they needed rescuing. Probably best to train that out of him early before she has another Shikamaru on her hands.

She feels a pang.

_Dammit._

 

Ezra and the Xexto – _Ferpil_ – are fast friends and 'business associates' by then end of the day, which isn't even remotely surprising. People _like_ Ezra _._ He has that mix of innocence and roguish charm that reminds her of orange, blond hair and whisker marks.

Another pang.

_Need to stop doing that._

Umbra on the other hand is usually deemed less … _approachable_. She's quiet and even with her blue-black hair tied back into a braid, the Baggy clothing she wears – _the kind with lots of hidden pockets_ – gets her mistaken for a boy more often than not. She wouldn't go so far as to say she's _trying_ to keep everybody she meets at a distance but… well… that's pretty much exactly what she's doing.

Ezra has – _from the start_ – had absolutely no regard for this attitude, cheerfully closing any and all distance she tries to put between them.

_The temerity._

-

-

-

Ferpil is – _in no uncertain terms_ – a blessing in disguise, teaching Ezra the kinds of things Umbra can't without at least few more years of experience for plausible deniability.

He's also charming and makes her laugh, which she needed more than she realised.

Maybe he'd realised.

There are times when Ezra and Ferpil will spend entire _days_ trying to lift the other's credit chits without the other noticing. Umbra isn't allowed to play anymore because of reasons which rime with 'lore sosers'.

_Those are the best days._

Work is good, Contacts are made and people are relieved of the troublesome burden of money.

Umbra maintains that it is _pure coincidence_ that the Empire, more often than not, is the one getting fleeced.

Ezra will admit otherwise. With a _smile._

They do well, for a while. Until they don't

The twins are fourteen when they find themselves staring down the barrel of an ISB issue blaster.

 _We did too well, too quickly,_ Umbra thinks. Not that it matters.

Ezra freezes up. A deer in the headlights. It's the first time he's been caught and its showing. Umbra's fault really. She covered for too many of his mistakes and now he feels invincible. _Felt_ invincible, anyway.

The ISB officer – _Jenkins or something_ – trains his weapon on Ferpil. "On your knees _filth_."

_Ah._

Not an arrest then. An execution

 _We_ **really** _pissed them off with that last run._

They've taken her blaster, which is good. She's not a threat in their eyes now. Just a scared little girl about to die.

What happens next happens _fast._

One moment Jenkins i _s_ toying with his kill, revelling in his victim's slow, dawning comprehension that he's going to die today.

The next, he's staring down at the stump where his hand used to be.

Umbra flings the vibroblade, which just cut through a man's arm like a knife through butter, at the nearest Stormtrooper. He drops like a stone as the screaming starts.

Umbra's not sure exactly _why_ a highly trained military operative is crying over the loss of a hand in a universe with prosthetics as advanced as they are, but it sure makes for one hell of a distraction.

_It cauterised the wound too, so it's not like he's going to bleed to death or anything._

The remaining Stormtroopers are stumbling backwards, probably unused to any kind of effective resistance against them. _Bullies, when it comes down to it._

Jenkins' blaster fells them both before they can get a shot off, all while the man himself still won't stop shrieking – _is he faking hysteria? Calling for backup in a way I might not recognise as calling for backup?_

It doesn't matter.

Another blaster shot and the room falls silent.

_Right then, priorities._

"Ezra", she turns, watching as he processes what just happened "You hurt?"

His eyes snap to the blaster. "I–I'm fine" he mumbles, refusing to look her in the eye.

_He's not afraid them anymore. He's afraid of me._

Umbra turns away. She can't deal with that right now.

Priorities.

_We might not have long before someone misses these guys._

She turns to Ferpil, who meets her eyes in full, searching.

_Not your first?_

_No, not even counting at this point._

He nods, concluding the silent exchange, as if she's just confirmed some longstanding theory of his. Maybe she has.

"You need to get off planet," Umbra realises.

"I do," he admits.

"Today", she points out.

"Next couple of hours, if I can." He turns to Ezra who's staring at one of the bodies, its arm twitching. "Kid! Are you gonna help me pack up or were you planning on sitting there for what's gonna be the rest of a _very short_ life?"

That, it seems, gets him moving. A task. Something to distract him from his sister and the people she'd just _murdered_.

_I barely even think about it anymore._

"Umbra. I want you on lookout. Second you see someone, we bolt." Ferpil grins. "I'll take as much as I can but I'm not dying for this garbage."

She smiles back, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "You got it."

-

-

-

The fact that nobody comes to investigate screams and blaster shots, followed by the sudden and even more conspicuous _cessation_ of screams and blaster shots, reminds Umbra of _exactly_ the kind of neighbourhood this is.

_There are a couple of guys from Broken Horn keeping their hands on their weapons a few streets away and more than a few windows and doors have been bolted shut, but that's par for the course around here. Still no Stormtroopers though. Was this op off the books?_

[Kid?] Her radio askes, in garbled approximation of Ferpil's voice.

"All quiet" she answers. "Couple of Horns here and there, but I think they look more concerned about what happened here coming in their direction. Should leave us alone so long as we don't take the part their way."

[Good], the radio replies. Then again, more relieved.

[ _Good_. We're done over here. Everything's loaded up. Even left a little something for you two rascals.]

-

-

-

"Hey, I'm guessing that landspeeder out front belonged to Officer whathisface. If you want we could load your stuff onto–" was about as far as Umbra got before Ezra wrapped her into a crushing hug.

_What?_

"I'm sorry." The words are muffled with his head buried in her shoulder. "You had to do all that to save us when I froze up and I–I'm – I mean you probably had to do it before to save my stupid skin at some poi– and I didn't realise and then I didn't –" his voice breaks as he cries into her jacket.

"S'okay" is about the only response she can produce. Her eyes blur as she strokes his hair like she did when they were little – _littler_ anyway _._ "I know that can't have been easy on you."

_He still loves me. It's okay. I didn't ruin everything._

"S'not okay" he mumbles, like he can change what happened if he disagrees with it hard enough. Umbra smiles, fondness and worry mingling into a faint sense of dread. He didn't always show it, but Ezra never quite outgrew that kind of wide-eyed idealism. He'd just found a way to co-opt it into the life of a thief. She knows that its eventually going to hurt him, more than today ever could.

She'll be there to pick him back up when it does.

Ferpil stalks out from the backroom, four bags in his arms. His eyes dart between her and her brother before nodding with something akin to approval.

Words had been exchanged it seems.

"Save some of those tears dear children. You still have to say goodbye to _me_ ", he announces, his tone dripping faux dramatic. "And I want the _full works_ , you hear? Wailing, desperate pleas to stay, the furious cries that I'll never find better thieves!"

Ezra snorts mid-cry. "Oh _please_ , _you know_ you'll never find anyone better. You want me to tell you what colour the sky is too?"

Ferpil barks out a laugh. "Cocky brat." He flings a bag at them which Umbra catches, breaking the hug. "Five thousand creds in there, plus whatever isn't nailed down.

_Five thou-_

Ezra makes a very high pitched squeaking noise that a lesser sibling might have teased their adolescent brother mercilessly about.

"A little something?" Umbra manages.

He shrugs. "I don't think either of you realise just how rich your business has made me. Or…" he pauses, "just how badly I've been ripping you off."

Umbra smiles. "Jerk"

-

-

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Shikako in the Star Wars universe is a really interesting idea because of just how different their senses of morality can be. Someone who lived in Konoha – the nice village at that – would probably freak out a lot of the good guys in their methodology.
> 
> This covers pretty much all of the pre-star wars rebels' cannon. So the end of this comes just before episode 1
> 
> ISB = Imperial Security Bureau
> 
> ISB officer's actual name is Jenkes, but Umbra doesn't know that and wouldn't care anyway. I found the idea of her getting his name wrong amusing on a narrative level.
> 
> And yea, Stormtroopers were backing off because they just saw a 14 year old girl lop off their commanding officer's arm. That'll freak you out.
> 
> In terms of the force, Ezra has far more innate talent. This might have something to do with how Umbra/Shikako is far more pragmatic when it comes to the weapons at her disposal and would view the force as a tool to be exploited and used, which, as far as I'm aware, isn't really how the force works.
> 
> Anyone who wants to pick this up is welcome to. I might continue if people ask. I'm not really sure how much the DOS fandom overlaps with the Rebels fandom
> 
> Oh, and Umbra literally means "shadow or darkness", which is a little on the nose for my tastes but I think it fits.


	2. Chapter 2

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[Stay on alert! Repeat: This is a code red!]

The patrol scrambles towards the nearest point of interest, their victim forgotten.

_Well now he's just showing off._

"So," Umbra begins, as Ezra re-joins her on the rooftops. "When you said you were going to 'grab a bite to eat', I was thinking of something more along the lines of you _buying something_ rather than say, oh I don't know, _conning a contingent of Imperial Guards out of arresting a street vender before making off with a full bag of produce."_

Her brother, _of course,_ just grins at her like some kind of loon.

"You're incorrigible" she says, trying to fight down a smile of her own. And failing.

Victorious, Ezra begins munching away on his newly liberated lunch. "Anything interesting happen?"

_Actually._

"Your new friends just led us straight to a cache of Imperial goods. Couldn't say what they are though."

Ezra's eyes light up. " _Imperial goods,_ huh?"

_Overeager much?_

"Yea, but considering the number of guards _you_ just added to their detail, alongside the fact that we don't even know _what_ it is that they're carrying and… and – _sorry_ , but do you hear that?"

"What? I mean No? What are you – _oh._ " Ezra cocks his head to one side, puzzled, before something just seems to _click_.

His eyes narrow. "I think… it's like feedback on a microphone. Only…" he trails off.

Only smoother. Almost soothing… like a song. Almost like…

_Gelel._

Umbra doesn't have time to let that sink in, to consider what the hell _that_ means, because she's turning with tandem with Ezra. To the source of the noise – even though it's not really sound – _ugh, even describing it to myself getting frustrating_.

A human. Late twenties to early thirties, judging by appearance. Brown hair is tied back into a short ponytail. His outfit, from the protective guard fitted onto his right arm to the blaster on his utility belt, practically _screams_ bounty hunter.

He turns.

There is no time – _no need_ – to communicate. The twins flatten themselves against the rooftop, dropping out from his line of sight.

_He felt it too._

" _What_ was that?" asks Ezra, in a tone that belied _entirely_ too much curiosity and not _nearly_ enough caution.

"Quiet."

As the noise fades, Umbra shifts, angling towards a better vantage point. Ezra follows, the motion a little less smooth.

Ponytail is moving now. Sauntering down the street when –

"Did you see–" Ezra whispers.

"I did. Hand signals. Full hand, two pats on the left thigh."

_Looks like Ponytail is on the job._

A cat-like… person strolls out from a side-alley. Big guy. 'Gruff' might be the best descriptor.

Not as good as his colleague either. Umbra could've pegged this guy for a tail any day of the week. He moves with too much purpose – a little too quickly to pull off 'casual'.

Ponytail, on the other hand, _she_ nearly loses track of while tagging Whiskers.

_He's good_ Umbra realises as he stops next to a woman – _right thigh, two pats_ – before continuing on his way.

The woman – mid-to-late teens if she had to guess – looks even more the bounty hunter than Ponytail does. _Mandalorian_ armour, graffitied over in pinks and oranges, with more than a few grenades attached to her belt.

"Interesting", Ezra says, as Bubblegum casually tosses a bomb towards a speeder.

The explosion is… well it's _alright_. It gets the job done anyway.

The convoy reacts like an anthill to a boot. Mad, barely coordinated panic.

"Get those crates out of here!" someone bellows in a desperate attempt to reassert control. "Keep them secured at all costs!"

Ezra smiles. "All costs huh? I like the sound of that."

Umbra doesn't. She hasn't been given nearly enough prep time. They still have no idea of what's in the crates – ' _all costs' is vague at best_. And, most importantly, she doesn't know who Ponytail and his gang are, or who they're working for.

She sighs.

_Just like old times._

The fact that imminent peril has her waxing nostalgic should probably bother her a _lot_ more than it does.

They follow by rooftop as Stormtroopers on speeders are forced to slow down, navigating tight alleyways and bustling crowds.

_This was well planned_ Umbra realises as the last pieces slip into place _._ The imperials are taking the most direct route towards the open road, where they can pick up speed and request air support.

And, right there at the end of that route, is Ponytail.

"Hey, how's it going?" he asks, kicking one trooper off of his speeder before blasting another.

Stormtroopers crawl out of the woodworks. Not as incompetent as one might assume if they had guards posted on potential escape routes. _For all the good it does them anyway_ , Umbra thinks as Whiskers darts out from his own hiding spot to flank the ambush.

They go down. _Fast_.

Which is right about when Ezra decides to –

-

-

-

_'Hold up an Imperial shipment' she says._

_'It'll be easy', she says._

_In all fairness to Hera_ , Kanan supposes, _the Empire wasn't exactly the problem this time._

As a kid pops out of nowhere and hijacks one of  _his_ new speeders, Kannan can't help but wonder.

_Did we just get robbed?_

"Thanks for doing all the heavy lifting."

_We did. We totally just got robbed, while in the middle of robbing someone else._

Kanan's eyes snap to Zeb, whose right hook misses the kid by inches.

"Now what?" Zeb asks, more confused than angry. Not that he _isn't_ angry. The situation is just _very_ confusing.

"After that kid!"

-

-

-

Sabine laughs. Sure, they're getting robbed in the middle of a job, and sure, the plan's gone straight out the air-lock, but the kid saw an opportunity and he _took it._

The Mandalorian in her can't help but approve.

It doesn't take her long to get into position. She's not sure when she became so blasé about jumping onto moving vehicles, but if she had to guess, it'd be before she joined up with the Ghost.

"Pretty gutsy move kid."

She's not sure if he's really listening, dividing his attention between her, the road and the bucket-heads shooting at them. She draws her blaster and the 'oh crap' expression dutifully informs her that _yes, yes he is_. Not that he can really _do_ anything. At best, his choices are dealing with her and getting shot, or evading the Stormtroopers and… getting shot. Not that she's _actually going to shoot him_ but _he_ doesn't know that.

So why then, is he now smiling like the cat that ate the canary?

"I like your armour, it's really pretty" says a voice _directly behind her_.

_Wha_ –

-

-

-

Kanan scoops Sabine onto his speeder.

"What happened?"

"There's two of them," she says, in a tone he can't quite place. "Boy and a girl."

Three streets – _already_ full of downed Stormtroopers – later and they're on the highway where Kanan can see that 'yes', there are now two figures riding a speeder carrying crates of high end Imperial blasters.

"Who _are_ these kids?"

Of course, between his crew and them are _even more_ Imperials.

_Well, one less now_ Kanan thinks as a well-placed blaster shot sends one Stormtrooper veering off of the road.

He turns to Zeb, forming hand signs that he knows are going to rile him something fierce.

Zeb takes a long, _long_ moment before signing back.

{Acknowledged}

He doesn't need to explain himself to Sabine, it seems. She's already taken up positon on one of the crates weighing his speeder down. He cuts the link between the two. Zeb'll get them back to the Ghost.

_Now then_.

-

-

-

" _This_ is your plan? The _highway,_ Ezra?" They were sitting ducks! One Tai Fighter is all it'll take. Nowhere to run. No cover to hide behind.

" _C'mon_ sis. We're almost home free", Ezra – _who is no longer allowed to make decisions_ – says.

Fate, _thoroughly tempted,_ answers her brother with a speeder cutting them off.

Ponytail.

He stares them down with a face that is just two-hundred percent _done_ with today. Umbra doesn't miss that his speeder is missing its cargo.

_We're definitely not going to be outrunning him then._

"Who _are_ you?" Ezra askes, deciding that _now_ is apparently an okay time for a quick chat and introductions.

She's more than a little surprised when Ponytail answers

" _I'm_ the guy who was stealing those crates."

"Hey look," Ezra starts – and _oh look there's that Tai-fighter I was afraid of –_ "I stole this stuff, whatever it is, fair and square."

For half a second Umbra actually thinks he's lost it. That he's seriously appealing to honour among thieves.

Then she realises that if she's seen the Tai, then chances are, _so has he_.

"And you made it pretty far" Ponytail says, now secure enough in his victory that he's actually wiling to humour them – or Ezra, at least. "But I've got plans for those crates. So today's _not your day_."

Umbra can't see Ezra's face from where she's crouching, but she'd bet the shirt off her back that he's smiling.

"Day's not over."

Which is all it takes to clue Ponytail in on what's happening.

"Oh _Wonderful_ " he says, sounding more exasperated than terrified as the two of them tear away from him.

He abandons his speeder – _blown to bits, seconds after the fact_ – and dives for cover behind a traffic barrier.

Umbra's too far away to make out what happens next, but she somehow doubts that he's dead.

"See?" Ezra calls back, and he is going to be _impossible_ now. "I told you. Home free."

Then the Tai-fighter catches up with them – _because why wouldn't it?_

"I think I might have made a mistake!" he shrieks, as he attempts to evade blaster fire in what is quickly becoming a killing field.

" _Y_ ou _think?_ " she says as they both leap from the speeder, which is now going up in flames.

She hauls her brother to his feet as she considers her options and realises she has none.

_No freedom of movement. No weapons worth a damn. Still no cover. Can't leverage the crates – what's even in those things? – for our lives. They wouldn't've shot at us if they were that valuable so–_

Her mind is running in circles, screaming at her for what she _doesn't_ have in ways that are becoming less and less productive. She doesn't have any resources. No jutsu to bury them both underground or to change the terrain with. She just has–

_The song._

_Louder_ than before. Like a symphony.

The fighter explodes, shot down.

The twins turn, as one.

A ship, with Ponytail at its entrance and suddenly it _clicks._

_I'll admit,_ Umbra thinks. _This wasn't how I imagined I'd meet my first Jedi._

"You two want a ride?"

-

-

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yea, this was a forty minuet episode and I really didn't want to have to write the whole thing out in one go. If I continue this I think it'll be in broader terms, but I wanted to properly negotiate the terms with which the Bridger twins met the crew of the ghost without detracting too much from Ezra. He's the talker. The one people who engages in witty banter. He needs to catch Kanan's eye in a way that's justifiable to the plot and 'I stole it first' banter is so very Ezra and Kanan.
> 
> Meanwhile, Umbra just sort of comes out of nowhere and awkwardly compliments your outfit before knocking you off of a moving vehicle. She swears she used to be good at this whole banter thing. Really.
> 
> Yes there are cats and canaries in the SW universe, which makes the idiom viable. I checked.
> 
> Edit: Slight spoilers here but just to clear something up; you might have noticed that Ezra is still acting reckless even though he no longer feels 'invincible' as of the last snippet. I'd say this is because Ezra isn't really all that happy with his life. He might not feel invulnerable anymore, but he's also a very good thief and the twins together are actually kind of rich. This isn't as great for Ezra as one might imagine because he's been using 'steeling to survive' as a way to distract himself from the fact that his parents have been disappeared and that his sister is almost certainly hiding parts of herself from him. Now that his immediate survival is no longer at the forefront of his mind, these issues are pushing their way up the queue. Ezra, who is not equipped to deal with these issues, instead decides to put himself into even more danger, so that his immediate survival can remain the dominant issue. The fact that he's also something of an adrenaline junkie (although there is a bit of a chicken and egg issue there) muddies the water further. Umbra, in relation to this, is far too used to watching people throwing themselves headlong into danger with shit-eating grins on their faces, before then following them into said danger, to really identify that this is not normal behaviour for this universe.


End file.
